Holiday photos

Aidan had a wonderful holiday, as you can see from the following photos.

Unwrapping a present on Christmas morning:


Getting a Christmas hug from Aunt Tammie:


Watching television in bed with Aunt Tammie:


Reading before bedtime with Aunt Tammie and Uncle Mike:


Riding in Cousin Michael's car:


Making bubbles at the science center:

Christmas in Michigan

Let me start by saying that East Lansing, Michigan is MUCH FARTHER from Baldwinsville, New York, than I previously thought. We left last Thursday to spend Christmas with my brother Mike, sister-in-law Tammie and nephew Mike. Mom was already there, having flown up from Knoxville on Tuesday.

I won't go into detail about our visit except to say that we had a lovely time and to share these highlights:

• We saw some very unusual signs along the way, particularly in Michigan. There was a jerky shop that stated in large letters "We are not a gas station", which begs the question: do people frequently get jerky stores and gas stations confused? But our favorite sign read: "Prison Area Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers". Eek! I was not able to get a photo but you can see a similar one here.


• Before our visit I (of course) looked to see if there are any yarn shops in the area. I found Woven Art and Tammie was gracious enough to take me there on Friday afternoon. What a lovely shop! I was dazzled by the luscious yarns and Tammie, Mom and James also enjoyed touching and admiring the yarns. I did not do too much damage, just a skein of Sweet Pea Fingerpaints (hand painted sock yarn from Cherry Tree Hill) and a fun felted bag from Frabjous Fibers.


• Aidan twice went to the Michigan Athletic Club with Mike and Michael, and splashed around in the indoor pool. On Sunday, he even got to try his hand at racquetball. It was a great way for Aidan to get his yayas out and to spend alone time with his uncle and cousin, although Michael is now quite sure that he does not want children any time soon!


• Tammie and Michael also took Aidan to Impression Five science center where the highlight of the trip was making slime. Who wouldn't enjoy making green slime?

We ate lots of delicious food, had some hearty laughs and generally had a good time. Santa Claus even found us there! Yesterday we loaded up the car and made the long drive home, this time with Mom joining us. She will stay with us until New Year's Day, when she will fly home from Syracuse.

And if I ever get caught up on laundry and get things put away, I will post some photos from our trip.

Homecoming

One year ago today on 22 December 2009, Aidan and I came home to Baldwinsville, New York; James had been here since the end of August and already liked living here. In very little time, B'ville really and truly felt like home, and now we cannot imagine living anywhere else.

About miwday through the year, Aidan suggested that we celebrate this day as a holiday and I thought it was a great idea. So today we celebrate our first Homecoming and it feels even better to be celebrating in our own little house. Happy Homecoming, and here's to many more years of happy living in B'ville!

P.S.

The artisan bread was a big hit at dinner last night! The inside was flavorful, dense and chewy, and the outside was crisp. Both James and Aidan liked it and when given a choice of bread for toast this morning, Aidan chose my bread. Good boy!

Off to bake another loaf...

Artisan bread

Behold my first loaf of artisan bread! We are great fans and consumers of hearty bread at my house and while our bread machine makes a nice loaf, it doesn't make that chewy, crusty bread that we all prefer. My friend Jennifer makes that kind of bread and was kind enough to share her secret: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

While I do not yet understand the "five minutes" part, it really is quite easy. You make up a large batch of dough, put it into the refrigerator, cut off pieces of dough as you need it, then bake in a hot oven on a baking stone. There is no kneading - perfect for me because I do not like to knead dough. The hardest part was getting it off the cookie sheet (I don't have a pizza peel) and onto the hot baking stone, which is why my first loaf came out a little lopsided.

We have not yet tasted the bread since it is cooling, but it smells divine.

The snow gods are angry

Or happy, I really don't know. What I do know is that the snow gods have been very, very busy the last few days. In case you have not heard, the Syracuse area received over 40 inches of snow between Sunday and last night. The official gauge at Syracuse Hancock airport measured 43.2 inches.

That is a lot of snow. And while school in B'ville was delayed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, it did not close. Not even the morning, I think it was Tuesday, when we opened the back door to see one foot of fresh snow overnight.

Our morning routine has been the same all week. James gets ready for work and I get dressed, then we go out to rearrange the snow in the driveway. Thank goodness we bought the snowblower (aka to me as The Beast) last month when it was 60 degrees out. James runs the snowblower while I use the shovel and once he gets it cleared enough to get his car out of the driveway, he leaves and I finish the job. Oy vey, it is hard work, even with The Beast. I end up shedding my coat and shoveling in just my jeans and sweatshirt, appropriate since I am sweating with the effort of moving snow. Needless to say, muscles in my body about which I previously knew nothing have made their presence known. In a BIG way.

Yesterday morning we dug out as usual. James went on to work and I had just finished clearing the drive and sidewalks, and had put away The Beast when the plow went by. The foot of the driveway and part of the sidewalk were then covered again. The snowplows are doing a great job keeping up with the snowfall, but why couldn’t I have a clear drive for at least an hour? I nearly cried with frustration.

What is really odd about all this snow is that up until last Wednesday, just eight days ago, we had zero snow on the ground. From zero to 43.2 in just seven days!

Our old house

Ta da...


Our old house! It has been a long week and a half since we closed but we are thrilled to be in our new old house. The house was built in 1912 but sat empty for several years and had deteriorated badly. The person from whom we bought the house acquired it in its derelict condition and rehabbed it. So although the house is old, it has new windows, a new roof, a new furnace, a new water heater, new bathrooms and a new kitchen.

One of my favorite features of the house is the side porch, which faces the cemetery across the street and the Seneca River beyond. Come spring and summer, we will spend a lot of time on the porch. I adore that we have a river view from three sides of the house and I can hear the geese and ducks as they fly to/from the river.

Last Saturday in the midst of unpacking boxes that the movers delivered and schlepping stuff over from the apartment, we had a knock on our front door. There stood a little old lady, who introduced herself, welcomed us to the neighborhood and handed us a pan of fresh baked brownies. Her name is Odette and she lives about seven houses away from us, she has been married for 50+ years to the same man and her house was built in 1860 - we learned that in the first five minutes of speaking with her! But we were so touched by her kindness that I nearly cried; never in our five years of living in Georgia did any neighbor do anything, well, neighborly.

We are tired, sore, our fingers are cut and our bodies are bruised from the physical efforts of moving and unpacking, but every time I drive down the street and see our house, I smile. It is good to be home.



I will post interior photos of the house once we have more things in place.

Note: It snowed last night and has snowed off and on all day, but we only have about three inches. Nothing like Buffalo received midweek!

Déjà vu

"It's like déjà vu all over again."
- Yogi Berra

Just about this time last year, I put the blog on hiatus while we wrapped up living in Georgia and moved to New York, and I am putting it back on hiatus again, albeit for a shorter period of time. We are scheduled to close on our new (to us) home in B'ville on Tuesday afternoon and the movers will deliver our household goods on Wednesday. That strange noise you may hear on Wednesday morning will be me expressing my great joy at being reunited with the bulk of our furniture and kitchen items!

Between getting everything in place and then moving out of our apartment, there is not going to be any spare time in my life to post. There is also going to be about a four day period of no Internet access; despite Verizon assuring us several weeks ago that it would be no problem to schedule connection at the new address within a week, it turns out that is not the case when it actually comes time to set the appointment. So why didn't we schedule the appointment weeks ago? Because we did not know until Friday morning the date of our closing, and therefore our move-in date. So unless I can piggyback on someone else's signal or I go sit in the library, the blog will be dark for a while. I am sure we will all survive.

We are excited about having our own place again, about not sharing walls or a parking area with other tenants, about having more than 800 square feet! When I return to the blog, I promise photos and details about the house. Until then, ciao!

Knitting bits

In the spring, I made a gorgeous Sweet Eleanor cabled hat and donated it to the auction for The Thacher School, which my friend Kelli's daughter attends. Kelli attended the auction and bid on the hat, but did not win it. I decided that I would knit a hat from the same pattern for Kelli's birthday in October.

I chose Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend and my oh my, the 70% Merino and 30% silk blend feels fabulous. Kelli likes earth tones and I think the colorway integrated beautifully many different earthy colors:


Here is a close-up of the crown, which has an interesting pattern that almost resembles a flower, or a star:


Kelli received the hat the day before her birthday and sent me a happy thank you text message. She lives in South Carolina, so it may be a while before she has the need for a hat.

This week I finished a quick little knit for me. I bought the yarn and pattern at the Old Forge Hardware and it was my first time to knit with Noro Silk Garden. Honestly, I was not impressed. It seemed very rough for yarn that is 45% silk (along with 45% Mohair and 10% wool) but it did soften a bit after it was soaked in Eucalan. It is more a decorative scarf, as in I will wear it indoors as an accessory rather than to keep warm outside:

I like the scarf just fine, but I definitely have the need to knit Noro out of my system.

Note: I used my neighbor Cindy's fence to photograph it - thank you, Cindy!

A Vagabond Song

When my friend Geri saw the photo of a glorious tree that I snapped the other day at Beaver Lake, she was reminded of a poem called A Vagabond Song. I am not normally one for poetry, but every once in a while I come across one that grabs my attention and my heart, and this poem did just that. I am so pleased that Geri shared it with me and now I am going to share it with you:

     A Vagabond Song
     By Bliss Carman (1861-1929)

     There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood --
     Touch of manner, hint of mood;
     And my heart is like a rhyme,
     With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.

     The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry
     Of bugles going by.
     And my lonely spirit thrills
     To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.

     There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;
     We must rise and follow her,
     When from every hill of flame
     She calls and calls each vagabond by name.

"The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry of bugles going by" - enough said.

A lovely walk

After running errands this afternoon, we went out to Beaver Lake Nature Center to stretch our legs a bit. The sun played peekaboo from behind clouds, but it was a lovely day.

There are some trees that are still showing some of their fall finery:


A large number of Canada Geese were on Beaver Lake, most of them honking loudly. Those tiny dots in the photo are some of the geese:


We also saw two deer and a rabbit during our meanderings, although I was unable to get any photos.

James told Aidan that when he was a boy, he used to swing on vines a la Tarzan. Thanks, James. The rest of the walk involved Aidan looking for vines and asking to swing on them:




In total, we walked just under 3 miles - not bad for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Done

We no longer own a house in Georgia - happy, happy, joy, joy. It took sixteen months, changing real estate agents and paying money at closing to do it, but it is done.

We sold for less than we paid for the house, we sold for less than we owed and we put a lot of money and effort into improvements over the years, but I refuse to add it all up to determine the total loss; sometimes not knowing is better. And while I normally don't believe that money buys happiness, in this situation, we definitely bought ours...and we satisfied our financial obligation and kept our good credit rating intact. All in all, we did okay.

The best part is that we can now close that unfortunate chapter in our lives and move on.

Halloween photos

Aidan surprised me when he announced that he wanted to be Luke Skywalker for Halloween. Again. I dug out the tunic and belt from last year, loaded up the light saber with fresh batteries and we were all set.

I went to his school on Friday morning for the Halloween* parade. It was pouring buckets of rain, so all the parents and grandparents were herded into the gym or cafeteria to view the parade. Despite being cheek to cheek, it was still fun to see the children in their costumes (although I had to wonder at the judgment of some of the parents, allowing certain costumes).

Here is my little Luke:


It was COLD on Halloween night, so Aidan had to trick or treat with his winter jacket over his costume. I took a quick photo without the jacket:


We went to Aidan’s friend Ryan's house for trick or treating; the boys walked around the neighborhood with Mike while Kelly and I shared a bottle of wine while handing out candy at their house. What a haul - we now have enough candy to easily last us until February of 2012!

*I was happy to see that in New York, Halloween is actually called Halloween. No costume parades or fall festivals, just good ol' Halloween.

A very good football day

Ohio State - 52
Minnesota - 10

Syracuse - 31
Cincinnati - 7

Michigan State - 6
Iowa - 37

Michigan - 31
Penn State - 41

As Aidan said. "Every team we like won and every team we don't like lost!"

Award

Aidan was very excited when he came home from school on Tuesday because he had won the Principal's Council award. When I asked why he had won it, he did not know...further questioning revealed that he was not paying attention during the morning meeting and simply heard his name being announced!

The mystery was solved yesterday. I had a meeting with the principal to discuss the winter reading program that I am leading, and asked him about the award. He said that each teacher nominates a student for just about any kind of special recognition the teacher chooses, and they receive a certificate and have pizza with the principal. The principal was going to meet with the students after our meeting, so I knew Aidan would come home with his certificate.


I know that it is hard to read, so here is the full text: "Aidan tries his very best everyday. He cooperates in class, and always offers to help. Aidan is a responsible student who gets his work done to the very best of his ability. I am proud of his integrity and drive to do the right thing."

We had a true parental pride moment as we read the nice words on the certificate and Aidan was beaming. Whether the award is truly a recognition of his behavior or an incentive to encourage certain behavior, I don't know. But whichever it is, it made our little boy feel very proud and important.

(Note: last names have been obliterated from the image)

P.S.

When my friend Laura read in my Rhinebeck post that I did not have a photo of the meetup with her, she graciously shared this photo:


From left to right: Me, Laura, Jennifer, Noelle, and Andrea (and baby).

Thank you, Laura!

Rhinebeck

Not long after I began knitting in January 2008 and joined Ravelry soon thereafter, I started reading references to something called Rhinebeck. I soon learned that Rhinebeck is shorthand for The New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, which is held at the Duchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, NY. When we decided to move to New York, one of my first thoughts was that I would be able to attend this mecca for all things fiber-related. Yay!

This past weekend was the glorious event and my friend Jennifer, who lives near Albany, graciously offered to let me and our friend Noelle (who flew in from Chicago) stay with her. On Friday night, Jennifer's daughter and Noelle's daughter decided to give me a new hairdo:


Am I stunning or what? Who knew that many hair clips could fit into one head of short hair. If you look carefully, you can see Jennifer's dog Pippin in the background - I think he might have been thinking "better her than me!" The two girls were very sweet and I enjoyed having them style my hair.

We arrived at the fairgrounds about thirty minutes after the gates opened on Saturday morning. Although I thought I was prepared for what I would see, I was wrong. I think I must have said "wow" over and over. Days later, I am still dazzled by the amazing displays of yarn, both in quantity and in quality. Everywhere I looked there was gorgeous yarn and it was difficult to process it all. It was even more difficult to process that there were thousands of people there, many wearing their hand knit or crochet creations.

The best part of the day was meeting up with friends. I had lunch - delicous lamb chili - with my dear friend Geri, and we wandered around together for a while:


Then we headed over to the Ravelry meetup where I had the pleasure of meeting Andrea in person for the first time:


Attending with Andrea was her youngest, who is a darling and patient little baby boy:


That is the Bobhead on the little tyke's stroller; Bob is the mascot of Ravelry and the furbaby of Ravelry's founders.

We also met up with Jacqui, who was wearing her awesome knitted Viking hat, complete with blond braids. From left to right is Andrea, Noelle, Jennifer, Jacqui and me, acting like the nutjob that I am:


Later on, I met my friend Laura for the first time in person, but for some reason I don't have a photo of that meetup. Laura is the talented fiberista who spoiled me during the last Motherhood Later swap, and she is as warm and beautiful in person as she is in the ML group.

In one of the buildings, I was able to meet a friend from the Over 40 knitting group on Ravelry, Ellen:


In between the yummy yarn and yummy food, we also saw lots of great animals. I saw...

Llamas:


Alpacas:


And goats:


What a day. Although I bought very little - a hank of 50% silk/50% superfine merino yarn from Steam Valley Fiber Farm and a hank of Brooks Farm Duet in a deep rich purple colorway - I had a great time and am very pleased with my purchases.

Only 361 days until next year's event! Not that I am counting or anything...

They are not just for building anymore

One of the qualities I most admire in Aidan is his creativity; in particular, he does not let the stated function of an item always define how he uses it. Case in point: Legos. Yesterday he was playing with his Legos and decided to use them to build a piece of art:

LaFayette Apple Festival

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were absolutely gorgeous - deep blue skies, bright sunshine, just right temperatures - and perfect weather for the LaFayette Apple Festival. When we arrived yesterday morning at the opening time of 9 am, the line of cars waiting to park already stretched out to Route 20. We were hungry, so we first found some breakfast. Unfortunately the vendor was already out of apple pancakes, so we settled for apple donuts and sausage:


James and I enjoyed browsing the many arts and crafts vendors - some good, some not so good - but Aidan was all about the tractors on display. He was thrilled that he could climb up in the cab of a huge John Deere:


The back tires of the tractor were taller than Aidan:


Speaking of large, there was a display of gargantuan pumpkins. This one, at 750 pounds, was not nearly the largest one:


Can you imagine the number of pies or toasted pumpkins seeds it would yield?

We rode in a cart pulled by these two gorgeous Percheron horses:


I liked the display of scarecrows and while I have no idea which one won, this Medusa was my favorite; I am quite sure that is what I look like before my first cup of coffee in the morning:


We left the festival and drove by Beak and Skiff to pick apples:


We picked Jonagolds and Empire apples, both of which are very tasty. The drive home was beautiful and just outside of B'ville, we stopped at a farm to pick up some pumpkins. I don't know if they will last until carving time but in the meantime, they look pretty and festive sitting on the front porch.

A good day

A gloriously beautiful day here today. I attended the Twisted Stitches knitting guild meeting this morning for the first time in months, and enjoyed knitting with Ross and Jocelyn.

Then...Ohio State won, Syracuse won, Michigan lost (albeit to Michigan State), and Alabama lost - to the University of South Carolina, of all teams.

Yup, a good day.

Autumn knits

When Aidan and I visited Mom in Knoxville, we had the pleasure of visiting The Yarn Haven. Not only is it a beautiful store with lots of yummy yarn, there are friendly and knowledgeable people to help and answer questions. I bought a hank of Malabrigo Twist, which is bulky weight 100% baby merino, in the Caribeno colorway. It is beautiful both to see and touch, and the store used the Malabrigo Twist for a store sample of the very pattern I had in mind, The Amanda Hat. The yarn and the pattern go together very nicely, and it was fun to knit.

I don't like to wear hats but recognize that with our winter weather, I need to wear them from time to time. My version of The Amanda Hat is gorgeous and I don't think I will mind wearing it one bit:


While at The Yarn Haven, Mom picked out some yarn for me to knit her a scarf. She bought a cute leopard print fleece jacket for fall and wanted a scarf to wear with it. Despite her usual objection to wearing orange, the colors of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, she picked out Jil Eaton Minnow Merino in a burnt orange colorway called Orangini. Before she came to visit us last month, I knit several inches of two different patterns and let her decide if she liked one of them. She chose The Morning Snack Scarf, which is an easy but pretty pattern. It knit up quickly and, if it ever stops raining, I will block it and send to her:


While looking through one of my yarn bins, I came across the yarn I used to knit candy corn hats last year. I decided that I needed to make another one for my young friend Julien, who lives around the corner from us. As always, the hat is cute but the recipient is even cuter:

Breakfast with Aidan

This morning I had the pleasure of eating breakfast with Aidan at his school. This special breakfast at school morning promoted the importance of breakfast, in general, and the school breakfast program, in particular.

Aidan showed me how to get my napkin and utensils, and enter the cafeteria line. We were served a slice of yummy breakfast pizza and had our choice of mini muffins. The cafeteria workers called Aidan by name, which makes me wonder if they know the name of every student at his school or if his outgoing nature has led to them knowing him; I suspect it is the former.

In the cafeteria, Aidan led me to a table where one of his current classmates, Nathan, and his parents were sitting, and we were soon joined by one of his classmates from last year, Sarah, and her father. A lively discussion of teachers started - all three children like their teachers - and then the conversation moved on to the New York Yankees. Oy vey. It seems the others are all fans and since my team's playoff hopes ended sometime around the first week of June, there was not much I could add...certainly trash talk was out of the question.

Aidan and I went outside so he could run around the playground before the bell rang, and I chatted more with Sarah's dad and some other parents that I know. I really like Aidan's school and am impressed by the friendliness and openness the majority of parents have shown to me; SUCH a contrast to what I experienced at his school in Georgia.

The bell rang, Aidan happily hugged me and ran into the building. What a lovely start to our day!

ADK weekend

We were invited to go camping in the Adirondacks this past weekend by friends Mike, Kelly and Ryan, We took advantage of early release from school on Friday by loading up the car just after lunch and leaving B'ville by 2 pm. It always astounds me just how much gear is involved in camping, but we managed to fit it all and ourselves in the Outback.

Friday was freakishly hot and when we left the NY Thruway in Utica, the outside temperature was 90. As we drove north and east, the temperature steadily dropped and by the time we arrived at the Old Forge Camping Resort, it was already down to 80. We unloaded, set up camp and soon joined Mike, Kelly and Ryan at their site. We were unable to stay in adjoining sites; they have a pop-up camper and were therefore at an RV site, whereas we were in a lowly tenting site, the "steerage" of the campground.

Go ahead and snicker at the concept of a camping "resort" - I know I did, and still do a bit. But, honestly, the Old Forge Camping Resort is easily the nicest campground we have ever visited. There is a store, activities pavilion, small lake with paddle boats, and, in addition to the tenting and TV sites, both cabins and cottages to rent. The bathhouses are convenient and very clean, and we enjoyed strong, hot showers both mornings.

Friday night was very windy; James said the next morning that he thought we would wake up in another state! But the weather on Saturday was quite pleasant with overcast skies, only occasional drizzles and temps in the high 50s-low 60s. After a hearty breakfast, we drove over to Bald Mountain to hike:


It is a one mile hike to the top, with an astounding view of the Fulton chain of lakes to enjoy. Aidan and Ryan enjoyed climbing on rocks and scampering around:


Other than having to keep a careful and constant eye on the boys and maneuvering around the numerous other hikers, it was a lovely walk and the view at the top was gorgeous:


Everyone but me climbed to the top of the fire tower. I know my limitations and have nothing to prove to anyone, and no one wants to witness a panic attack while hiking. Kelly brought a bottle of wine and glasses, so we adults sipped some fruit of the grape before heading back down. We drove back into Old Forge, ate our picnic lunch and then visited Old Forge Hardware, a must visit if you ever go to Old Forge. If you need it, they probably have it; if they don't have it, you probably don't need it.

After a nice stroll around Moss Lake, we went back to the campground. The sunlight lit up the tops of the trees, although it is hard to see how pretty it was from the photo:


Kelly cooked a delicious dinner of pulled pork, beans, salt potatoes and apple cake. We had a quiet evening around the campfire until the boys started nodding off. There was karaoke at the main pavilion so we were serenaded as we settled down for the night. As the night progressed, the singing got worse and worse to the point where it was just plain funny. But when it started to rain and rain HARD, the music wrapped up quickly.

It was soggy the next morning as we packed up, but we managed to get everything back in the car. We stopped off in Old Forge for James and Aidan to do some fishing (and for me to knit) but really all that was biting their lines was weeds:


We returned home around 3 pm tired and smelling of camp. We had a fun time but I have done my share of camping for a bit.

Golden Harvest Festival

James, Aidan and I took Mom, who is visiting from Knoxville, out to Beaver Lake Nature Center yesterday to attend the Golden Harvest Festival. It was a beautiful day to be outside - sunny with temps right around 70 - and it was fun to see the nature center transformed into a country fair. There were craft vendors (some tacky, some okay and quite a lot very good), games for the children, a horse drawn cart ride, live music and, of course, food. We started off with freshly made donuts and cold cider, which Aidan chugged with great enthusiasm:

Aidan also enjoyed playing the midway games - here he is at the
ring toss:

He won a medal for his efforts:


After we viewed all the booths and ate lunch, we showed off Beaver Lake to Mom. We were fortunate to see a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis:


We saw these turtles sunning themselves on a log in the lake:


Mom agreed that Beaver Lake is a beautiful and tranquil place, although I think we walked a bit too much for her!